An admirable, or rather splendid culmination of the festival. As if all strengths of previous concerts had been integrated into one whole. Handel’s last oratorio was performed by the Accademia Bizantina orchestra, the Capella Cracoviensis Chamber Choir and soloists, and the entire concert was conducted by Ottavio Dantone.

Music for one-two voices and basso continuo: the organ or the harpsichord and the viola. It is hard to find a more modest set of instruments, but we do not feel that anything is missing here. Just the opposite: the music reaches the fullest sound in its melodic declamatory quality, in dialogues of two voices and in its contemplative immersion. This is the secret of Leçons de ténebres – Lessons of Darkness, which were written in France during Louis XIV’s rule mainly for texts of the Lamentations of Jeremiah and Psalms. The music of the most intimate nocturnes by Georges de la Tour – those in which the light of a candle faintly crawls across hands and faces, leaving more to be guessed than is shown directly.